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Tuesday, June 3, 2014
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Scammers target postal customers Old scam resurfaces in the area By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has announced the resurfacing of a years-old email scam targeting postal customers, includ-
ing Bureau County residents. On Friday, Princeton Post Master Shannon Mattingly said her office has definitely received a lot of phone calls lately from patrons who have questions about an email they’ve received concern-
ing an unsuccessful parcel delivery attempt by the U.S. Postal Service. Some of the surrounding smaller post offices have also received similar calls from their patrons, Mattingly said. In response to those calls, Mattingly said she’s telling her patrons to not open the email.
The Postal Service does not email its customers in this regard. If the post office attempts to deliver a parcel and the customer is not available to sign for the parcel, the customer will receive a hard copy notification in his/her mailbox, she said. “If you, the customer, have already opened
the email, then it’s very important that you change your passwords and take any and all precautions that you would otherwise to protect your identity and any personal information on your computer,” Mattingly said. Unfortunately, this is not the only scam going around involving the
postal service, including the scam about having to pay for postal exams, Mattingly said. Anyone that would ever choose to take the postal exam, to be hired by the USPS, needs to know the USPS does not ever charge for this exam, she said.
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Recycling drive a success Four semis filled with electronics By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — The city of Princeton’s electronic recycling drive held this past weekend gave residents an opportunity to clean out the unwanted household electronics taking up space around the house. Residents from all over the county were invited to participate in the recycling drive. The collection brought in all sort of items from televisions, computers, VCR players and printers to fax machines, DVD players, radios and hard drives. While final numbers have not yet be tallied, Princeton Street Superintendent Steve Wright reported four semitrailers full of electronics were carried offsite, making this electronic drive one of Princeton’s most successful. “This opportunity for residents is great,” he said. “It’s a much better option than throwing the electronics in the ditches or filling up the landfills. Plus, people look forward to these recycling drives.” The items were taken at no cost, and Wright confirmed the city paid nothing and made nothing from the drive. The items were taken offsite by Vintage Tech Recyclers of Chicago, who will strip down the materials and reuse the plastic and metals.
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BCR photo/Amelia Bystry
And the band played on ... Princeton Community Band members Francis Lucente (from left), Rachel Payton and Aaron Nelson perform a snare drum trio for the crowd who gathered at Soldiers and Sailors Park Sunday evening for the group’s first concert of the season. Mark your calendars for the group’s other concerts this season set for June 15, June 29, July 6, July 20 and July 27, all held at 6 p.m. at Soldiers and Sailors Park in Princeton. Lawn chairs are welcome. Refreshments are available.
Andrew Albrecht draws winning design Bureau County has a new county seal By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — The county of Bureau has a new county seal, thanks to Andrew Albrecht. Andrew, a fifth-grader at Reagan Middle School in Tiskilwa, won the recent Design A Seal contest organized by Bureau County Clerk Kami Hieronymus. The new seal depicts the Soldiers and Sailors monument on the
courthouse square, stalks of corn, a covered bridge and a Ferris wheel from the Bureau County Fair. Hieronymus said the old seal has been used for many years and is similar to the Illinois state seal, with a bald eagle on a rock, a ribbon and shield. Other counties were updating and modernizing their county seals, and she thought it would be a good thing to do for Bureau County as well. “As one of our jobs, the county clerk is the keeper of the county
seal,” Hieronymus said. “For anything that needs to be certified, from county board records, to vital records and other official documents which need to be sealed, we will use this new seal. I will have it posted on the county clerk’s website and have it become a part of our official stationary for the county clerk’s office.” When considering the updated
county seal, Hieronymus said she thought it was time to incorporate some color into the design and to feature some historical sites in the county. “I thought we needed a new symbol that is a representation of Bureau County,” Hieronymus said. “I also thought we could use some youthful creations to come up with a new look.” Fifth-graders from throughout the county were invited to participate in the Design a Seal contest. The guidelines for the entries were the design had to be
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